Hartford Business Journal

HCH 6 Hartford Business Journal • November 16, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com HEALTH CARE HEROES 2020 HONOREE CATEGORY: NURSE Alicia Aponte Nurse The Village for Families & Children A licia Aponte is a registered nurse for The Village for Families & Children Eagle House psychiatric residential treat- ment facility in Hartford. For part of the year she was the only full-time nurse in a 24/7 program, helping to keep it running during a severe worker shortage. She adjusted her schedule to meet the needs of the program without complaining or even being asked. Her contributions were especially notable at the height of the COVID pandemic when the program was affected and she was responsible for the daily nursing care and over- sight of the affected clients. Although anxiety was high among many of the direct-care staff, Aponte showed up daily and performed her nursing duties with resolve and grit. She even stationed herself in the same building with the affected clients. Aponte also served at times as the sole on-call nurse, coming in to assess clients and provide medica- tions on her days and time off. She is always available to part- time, per-diem nurses, direct-care staff, and clients when on shift and seamlessly transitions from one task to another to accommodate the competing needs of clients and the program. HONOREE CATEGORY: NURSE Matthew P. Dickison Adult Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner The Village for Families & Children M atthew Dickison, an adult psychiatric nurse practitio- ner at the Village for Fami- lies & Children in Hartford, has been on the front lines of providing mental health support to patients impacted by COVID-19. Dickison, who served as a captain in the Army Reserves, in April and May was mobilized and sent to New York City to work in the Federal Emergen- cy Management Agency Hospital at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. He was also assigned to Queens Hospital. During his time at the Javits Center, he served as a registered nurse leading a small team to manage and care for up to 10 patients per day. He trained and oriented other nurses to continue the clinical care he was providing at the FEMA hos- pital before he left and was able to send more than 10 patients back to their families and homes. His team served many more patients with no negative outcomes or deaths. At the Queens hospital, Dickison served as a leader of the behavioral health team. Additionally, he provid- ed grief counseling and support to be- reaved psychiatric patients who had lost loved ones during the pandemic. Now he is back and working in Hartford, where he is providing mental health care to adults striving toward recovery from schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, bipolar disorder and more. HONOREE CATEGORY: NURSE Kathleen Hauser Registered Nurse Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Lawrence + Memorial Hospital K athleen Hauser got her nurs- ing degree from Southern Connecticut State University in 1980 and began her career as a med-surg nurse at Lawrence & Memorial (L&M) Hospital in New London. In 1989, L&M Hospital transi- tioned from a well-baby nursery to a neonatal ICU, where Hauser cur- rently works in addition to spend- ing two days a week on the postpar- tum/maternity floor. While performing a routine assessment on an 18-hour-old new- born on the postpartum/maternity floor this year, Hauser discovered a loud, harsh murmur when listening to the baby's heart with her stetho- scope. She immediately contacted the pediatric hospitalist, and the baby was taken for further testing. An echocardiogram revealed a severe pulmonary stenosis, which obstructed blood flow to the heart, that required immediate atten- tion. The baby was transferred to the hospital's newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and given life-sav- ing medication before being trans- ferred to Yale New Haven Hospital for further care. She helped save the baby's life. During the pandemic, Hauser contributed to L&Ms response by practicing the CDC and YNHH guidelines for social distancing and the donning of PPE. HONOREE CATEGORY: NURSE Aileen Legnani Registered Nurse Short-Term Rehabilitation Unit Jefferson House A ileen Legnani began her career as a registered nurse at the Veterans Hospital in Newington in 1985. She worked with HIV patients during a very challeng- ing time as the virus had recently been discovered. After she left the Veterans Hospi- tal, she worked at a few long-term facilities and came to Jefferson House in 1997. In March, Jefferson House needed to convert a nursing unit into an isolation unit for patients who might test positive for COVID-19. The nursing staff was fearful of car- ing for patients with coronavirus, given the unknown and uncertain- ty about the infection. Legnani was unafraid when the unit she worked in was chosen to become the isolation unit. She warmly welcomed patients with the COVID infection. Visitation to skilled nursing facilities had been stopped by Gov. Ned Lamont, which meant patients were not only isolat- ed in their rooms but they were also isolated from family and visitors. Legnani not only identified and cared for the physical needs of each patient but also the psychosocial and emotional needs, and was able to con- nect patients and their loved ones via phone calls, window visits and elec- tronic communication. She was able to spend additional time with patients to communicate to them that their families and loved ones were being updated as to their condition.

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